Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 6

Devanagari script

पद्मिनीभिः समाकीर्णो ग्राहनक्रझषाकुलः । नानापक्षिसमायुक्तो मनोहारी सुविस्तरः

Transliteration

padminībhiḥ samākīrṇo grāhanakrajhaṣākulaḥ | nānāpakṣisamāyukto manohārī suvistaraḥ

Translation

Il était rempli d’étangs de lotus, grouillant de crocodiles, de gavials et de poissons, et fréquenté par d’innombrables oiseaux — ravissant l’esprit et s’étendant au loin.

Word by Word

• पद्मिनीभिः: by/with lotus-ponds (lotus-bearing waters)
• पद्मिनीभिः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पद्मिनी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (करण/सह), बहुवचन; Instrumental plural

• समाकीर्णः: filled, crowded
• समाकीर्णः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम्-आ-√कॄ (धातु) → समाकीर्ण (कृदन्त, भूतकर्मणि/क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकर्मणि विशेषण; Past passive participle

• ग्राह-नक्र-झष-आकुलः: teeming with crocodiles, alligators and fish
• ग्राह-नक्र-झष-आकुलः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ग्राह (प्रातिपदिक) + नक्र (प्रातिपदिक) + झष (प्रातिपदिक) + आकुल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (समाहार/संबन्ध): ‘ग्राहनक्रझषैः आकुलः’

• नाना: various
• नाना: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नाना (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; विशेषणार्थे ‘विविध’

• पक्षि-समायुक्तः: associated with birds
• पक्षि-समायुक्तः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पक्षि (प्रातिपदिक) + सम्-आ-√युज् (धातु) → समायुक्त (कृदन्त, क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष: ‘पक्षिभिः समायुक्तः’; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकर्मणि

• मनोहारी: charming, captivating
• मनोहारी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मनोहर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण

• सुविस्तरः: very extensive, wide
• सुविस्तरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सु (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + विस्तर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मधारय: ‘सु-विस्तरः’ = ‘अतिविस्तीर्णः’

Speaker

Narrator (contextual Purāṇic narrator within Arbuda Khaṇḍa)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Arbuda-jalāśaya (unnamed lake in context)

Type: kund

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: ‘nṛpa-sattama’ addressee

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A wide sacred lake carpeted with lotuses; birds crowd the reeds; beneath the surface, crocodiles and fish churn—beauty layered over latent peril, rendered as a panoramic natural mandala.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇas present tīrthas as living sacred ecologies—beauty and abundance frame the moral and spiritual turning points that occur there.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

A prominent jalāśaya (sacred water-body) on/near Arbuda Mountain, serving as the stage for the tīrtha-māhātmya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None explicitly; the verse is a sthala-description (place-glorifying landscape portrayal).